As the U.S. Treasury pared its stake in American International Group last quarter, some well-known names were buying, including hedge-fund bigwigs George Soros, SAC Capital and David Tepper and mutual-fund giants Wellington Management and Vanguard.

Analysts expected that move, particularly Treasury’s stake falling below 20%, to make AIG more attractive to investors, a key goal of AIG CEO Robert Benmosche.

Treasury was able to sell more stock than expected as demand in the offerings was high and, as federal filings now show, famous investors piled in.

The SEC requires managers who handles more than $100 million to submit filings called 13Fs each quarter, showing their holdings at the end of each period. According to those filings, several star investors and heavy-hitting fund managers spent millions on AIG shares during the quarter. The moves were large enough to shake up the top holders in AIG.

David Tepper and Appaloosa Management built huge positions in Bank of America, Citigroup and an index of bank shares during the first quarter, betting big on a bank rally that soared during the period. The noted investor reported in a filing Monday that his fund now holds about 7.5 million shares of Bank of America, 6.1 million shares of Citigroup, and 4.2 million shares of the Financial Select Sector SPDR, an exchange-traded fund tied to bank stocks. Bank of America shares are up 32% year-to-date and had risen 50% at one point during the quarter. Citigroup shares are up 7% year-to-date after giving back big gains earlier this year as well. The ETF is up 12%.

David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management eliminated substantial holdings in the fourth quarter, but bought some more shares in Apple.

Bloomberg News

According to a filing, Appaloosa had, as of the end of December, just 29 holdings valued at $764.8 million, down from 50 holdings at a value of $1.54 billion at the end of September.

The funds quarterly filing shows that Tepper completely eliminated his fund’s holdings in more than 20 companies and pared back Appaloosa’s holdings in a about dozen more. Airlines, home builders, and automotive companies were among the most aggressive cuts.

Among the stakes no longer appearing was a small holding in Google; 4.3 million shares in AMR Corp., the operator of American Airlines that went bankrupt in late November; 2.9 million shares in Delta Air Lines; 4 million shares in Applied Materials; and 2.5 million shares in Citigroup.

David Tepper’s Appaloosa investment fund apparently has sold its entire holdings of its largest stock position, in Pfizer, and eased out of holdings in bank stocks including Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

A quarterly snapshot of Appaloosa’s investment holdings showed no ownership of Pfizer stock as of Sept. 30. The months earlier, the firm owned 14.5 million shares of Pfizer.

And Soros is far from the lone hedgie on the Forbes recrunched rich list. About two dozen hedge fund managers, past and present, are scattered across the “The Forbes 400: The Richest People in America“ list, released on Wednesday.

CNBC is reporting hedge-fund investor David Tepper, who won big in 2009 betting on battered bank shares, now is bailing out on some battered bank shares.

CNBC says Tepper’s Appaloosa Management sold its position in Bank of America, whose stock price is getting absolutely clobbered today. Clobbered as in down 10.5% to $7.31. Ouch.

Tepper has/had a relatively small position in Bank of America, at around 17.2 million shares as of March 31, according to LionShares. That’s less than 0.2% of Bank of America’s outstanding shares. Still, a vote of no confidence from a well regarded investor like Tepper isn’t good news for Brian Moynihan & Co.

Hedge fund investor David Tepper has bought a 7.35% stake in Dean Foods, according to a regulatory filing, helping drive up the company’s stock price today.

Tepper, known for making a fortune scooping up financial stocks on the cheap, disclosed the investment in Dean Foods as part of an SEC form for “passive” investors — or those who don’t have plans to push for changes in a company’s operations or management.

The imprimatur of Tepper is enough for investors, though. Dean Foods’ stock price was up 8.8% in recent trading to $9.67.

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Dealpolitik is Ronald Barusch's strategic look at deals currently making the headlines as well as the major forces at work in the deal-making world. He was a M&A lawyer with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for over 30 years. He retired in 2010 after 25 years as a partner at the firm. Click here for his current and archived columns.